Patachou plans a fried chicken restaurant

Oh, that duck-fat-fried chicken at Petit Chou. If you wait for it to go on special every Wednesday, you’ll be happy to hear that the restaurant’s owner is developing a new fried chicken place in Meridian-Kessler.

Crispy Bird is the latest project from Patachou Inc., the restaurant group that runs Petit Chou, Napolese, Cafe Patachou and Public Greens.

Work begins this fall on the wee 800-square-foot Crispy Bird at 115 E. 49th St., Patachou Inc. President Martha Hoover said. Opening day may come later this year or in early 2017.

Patachou Inc. continues its emphasis on wholesome ingredients. Local GMO-free and antibiotic-free chicken will be served. Thoughtful, comfort food sides as impressive as the fried bird  also are cornerstones of the Crispy Bird concept, Hoover said. Gluten-free fried chicken will be on the list, and vegetarians will have options, too.

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At 2015’s end, food and dining website Eater declared that 2016 would be the year of fried chicken. Other trend forecasters agreed, and the predictions seem to have come true in the Indianapolis area.

Fried chicken-centric The Eagle opened in December 2015 on Mass Ave. and became instantly popular. Louisville, Ky.-based Joella’s Hot Chicken arrives in mid-September on 96th Street between Keystone Avenue and Allisonville Road, where 96th Street Steakburgers used to be.

Add those to Central Indiana’s already bustling fried chicken circuit, with places such as Gray Brothers Cafeteria and The Iron Skillet on the state’s unofficial but well-traveled “fried chicken trail.”

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The fried chicken spike is not what motivated Hoover.

“I happen to be one of these people who spent most of my childhood in Texas and happen to love fried chicken,” she said. “I like a really brined, really Southern-style, really crispy fried chicken where the chicken is super moist.”

Petit Chou first ran its Wednesday duck-fat-fried chicken special in 2010 “because I am a huge fried chicken lover, and I missed not having the kind of fried chicken I eat,” Hoover said. “We put it on as kind of a one-time special and ended where it was so successful and so popular that we ended up doing it every Wednesday night since that time.”

Fried chicken is on the menu at Public Greens, too.

The Crispy Bird concept and menu is under development by Patachou Inc. executive chef Tyler Herald and Hoover’s son, David Hoover, who is just back from culinary training in Paris.

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Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, Facebook and Pinterest. Call her at (317) 444-6264.